Unleashing Central America’s Growth Potential : Guatemala

The objective of this study is to investigate the drivers and constraints of growth and productivity in Guatemala and explore areas with high growth potential. Drawing on the historical growth experience of Guatemala and employing a range of analyt...

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Main Authors: Ulku, Hulya, Zaourak, Gabriel
Format: Report
Language:English
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2021
Subjects:
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/undefined/108601633065428559/Guatemala-Unleashing-Central-America-s-Growth-Potential
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/36440
id okr-10986-36440
recordtype oai_dc
spelling okr-10986-364402021-11-02T05:10:33Z Unleashing Central America’s Growth Potential : Guatemala Ulku, Hulya Zaourak, Gabriel ECONOMIC GROWTH GROWTH DRIVERS TOTAL FACTOR PRODUCTIVITY STRUCTURAL TRANSFORMATION EMPLOYMENT COMPOSITION LABOR PRODUCTIVITY GROWTH DIAGNOSTIC CORRUPTION INFRASTRUCTURE HUMAN CAPITAL INNOVATION EXPORT DIVERSIFICATION JOB CREATION The objective of this study is to investigate the drivers and constraints of growth and productivity in Guatemala and explore areas with high growth potential. Drawing on the historical growth experience of Guatemala and employing a range of analytical tools, this country analysis aims to provide an in-depth study of the drivers and constraints of the country’s economic growth. The report first takes stock of the historical growth and macro performance of the country, before moving to a growth accounting exercise to understand the past drivers of the country’s growth. In the same vein, the subsequent section analyzes aggregate trends in productivity, the engine of long-term growth, and its relation to the process of structural transformation. The study then uses a cross-country benchmarking and panel data regression analysis based on the growth diagnostic developed by Hausmann et al. (2005) to identify the binding constraints to growth. Finally, the analysis presents the links between growth, diversification, and exports. This analysis relies on a wide range of analytical tools, which are applied to each of the six countries in the study to enable cross-country comparisons. Several quantitative methods are employed to provide an objective assessment of the drivers and constraints of growth in Guatemala, including the long-term growth model (LTGM), the computable general equilibrium model (CGE), growth diagnostics, and product space analyses. This same framework, analytical tools, and data are used for each Central American country to conduct a parallel analysis that enables meaningful cross-country comparisons. Therefore, given the wide breadth of the study, in terms of the methodologies used, subjects analyzed, and countries covered, it does not aim to analyze in depth each driver and constraint of growth and provide granular policy recommendations. The core objective of this study is to inform the policy makers and other interested parties about the country’s strengths and weaknesses related to its growth, and to establish the analytical basis for subsequent investigations of specific areas. 2021-11-01T20:12:40Z 2021-11-01T20:12:40Z 2021-10-01 Report http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/undefined/108601633065428559/Guatemala-Unleashing-Central-America-s-Growth-Potential http://hdl.handle.net/10986/36440 English CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Economic & Sector Work Economic & Sector Work :: General Economy, Macroeconomics and Growth Study Latin America & Caribbean Guatemala
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
language English
topic ECONOMIC GROWTH
GROWTH DRIVERS
TOTAL FACTOR PRODUCTIVITY
STRUCTURAL TRANSFORMATION
EMPLOYMENT COMPOSITION
LABOR PRODUCTIVITY
GROWTH DIAGNOSTIC
CORRUPTION
INFRASTRUCTURE
HUMAN CAPITAL
INNOVATION
EXPORT DIVERSIFICATION
JOB CREATION
spellingShingle ECONOMIC GROWTH
GROWTH DRIVERS
TOTAL FACTOR PRODUCTIVITY
STRUCTURAL TRANSFORMATION
EMPLOYMENT COMPOSITION
LABOR PRODUCTIVITY
GROWTH DIAGNOSTIC
CORRUPTION
INFRASTRUCTURE
HUMAN CAPITAL
INNOVATION
EXPORT DIVERSIFICATION
JOB CREATION
Ulku, Hulya
Zaourak, Gabriel
Unleashing Central America’s Growth Potential : Guatemala
geographic_facet Latin America & Caribbean
Guatemala
description The objective of this study is to investigate the drivers and constraints of growth and productivity in Guatemala and explore areas with high growth potential. Drawing on the historical growth experience of Guatemala and employing a range of analytical tools, this country analysis aims to provide an in-depth study of the drivers and constraints of the country’s economic growth. The report first takes stock of the historical growth and macro performance of the country, before moving to a growth accounting exercise to understand the past drivers of the country’s growth. In the same vein, the subsequent section analyzes aggregate trends in productivity, the engine of long-term growth, and its relation to the process of structural transformation. The study then uses a cross-country benchmarking and panel data regression analysis based on the growth diagnostic developed by Hausmann et al. (2005) to identify the binding constraints to growth. Finally, the analysis presents the links between growth, diversification, and exports. This analysis relies on a wide range of analytical tools, which are applied to each of the six countries in the study to enable cross-country comparisons. Several quantitative methods are employed to provide an objective assessment of the drivers and constraints of growth in Guatemala, including the long-term growth model (LTGM), the computable general equilibrium model (CGE), growth diagnostics, and product space analyses. This same framework, analytical tools, and data are used for each Central American country to conduct a parallel analysis that enables meaningful cross-country comparisons. Therefore, given the wide breadth of the study, in terms of the methodologies used, subjects analyzed, and countries covered, it does not aim to analyze in depth each driver and constraint of growth and provide granular policy recommendations. The core objective of this study is to inform the policy makers and other interested parties about the country’s strengths and weaknesses related to its growth, and to establish the analytical basis for subsequent investigations of specific areas.
format Report
author Ulku, Hulya
Zaourak, Gabriel
author_facet Ulku, Hulya
Zaourak, Gabriel
author_sort Ulku, Hulya
title Unleashing Central America’s Growth Potential : Guatemala
title_short Unleashing Central America’s Growth Potential : Guatemala
title_full Unleashing Central America’s Growth Potential : Guatemala
title_fullStr Unleashing Central America’s Growth Potential : Guatemala
title_full_unstemmed Unleashing Central America’s Growth Potential : Guatemala
title_sort unleashing central america’s growth potential : guatemala
publisher World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate 2021
url http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/undefined/108601633065428559/Guatemala-Unleashing-Central-America-s-Growth-Potential
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/36440
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